Meehan leads way to Sayville's first county title

Meehan leads way to Sayville's first county title

There were pictures in the Sayville locker room on Thursday night of many of the current Golden Flashes from their first year playing lacrosse together, back when they were in the third grade.

Those snapshots served as both a reminder of how far they've come and an inspiration for where they are now. It turned out to be a picture-perfect evening for Sayville as the school captured its first lacrosse title in the ninth season of the program, defeating Smithtown West, 11-9, at Stony Brook University in an exciting Suffolk Class B championship game.

"We had a special group. They've played together for 12 years," coach Christian Doller said. "This one is for the program. They were playing for every kid that has ever put on the Sayville uniform."

Those Sayville seniors provided Kodak moments all night. None was more critical than what proved to be the winning goal. Doug Meehan took a feed from Charlie Podgurski with 5:30 left to break a tie at 9. It was Meehan's fourth goal of the night. "It wasn't a set play, that's for sure," Meehan said with a laugh. "Charlie busted his butt into the hole and made a beautiful pass and I quick-sticked it."

With 2:54 remaining, Dan Mellynchuk scored his third of the game to clinch it for the Golden Flashes (14-5). "The kids just know each other so well," Doller said. "They see an opening and they go for it."

Another senior star was Dillon Boos, the All- Long Island quarterback with the hard shot. Boos used his strength to power inside for three unassisted goals. "This is just amazing," Boos said. "The girls did it so we had to do it tonight. Everybody played the game of their life."

James Pannell and Brett Madarasz scored two goals each for Smithtown West (12-8) and Kyle Keenan had a goal and three assists. It was Keenan's goal with 7:14 left that tied it and set the stage for some senior class highlights.

"It's awesome that we won the first one is school history," Meehan said. "And we got Coach his 100th win."

Doller downplayed his personal milestone, saying, "That's way in the back of my mind. The county championship is all I was thinking about," he said. "That was the most important thing."